1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



471 



guess that he was giving me a rebuke just then. 

 Of course, he knew my whole heart and soul 

 were with him in the stand he had taken; but 

 he did not know that my own boys — members 

 of my own Sunday-school class — who were at 

 home picking strawberries at that very time, 

 did not get, perhaps, as many encouraging 

 words as these boys were getting away off here 

 in the swamp. \Vhen I asked where the boys 

 lived he replied that most or them came from 

 the country round about; and as I siayed until 

 quitting-time 1 was pleased to see a light one- 

 horse vehicle, with seats all around the outside, 

 arranged so that one horse could easily trot 

 home with perhaps a dozen of those small boys. 

 They were neatly dressed, faces and hands 

 clean, notwithstanding their occupation, and 

 they did excellent work, and were happy about 

 it. I talked with them, and they told me so. 

 Mr. Weau remarked, as he pushed his fingers 

 around among the onions: 



" 8ee here; these boys are not content with 

 simply getting the weeds out. They do a nice 

 job of cultivating and loqisening the soil around 

 the plants at the same time. Every boy under- 

 stands the importance of it, and the girls too, 

 as well as you and I do; and they take pride in 

 seeing the beautiful growth of the beds that 

 they have gone over." 



Now, friends, is there any one among you— is 

 there a man. woman, or child, who looks on 

 these pages, who does not know that those boys 

 did better and more valuable work than they 

 would have done if they had been permitted to 

 curse and swear? And it is the same with a 

 gang of men. The men who take God's name 

 in vain, especially those who do it in an idle 

 way, with almost every word they speak, are 

 not, as a rule, good workmen. It is against 

 reason that they should be. The man who 

 takes God's name in vain labors with a blight- 

 ing curse hanging over him. You can not 

 break God's laws with impunity. " Whatso- 

 ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." 

 And yet why is it that men persist in doing so? 

 Why do they set this bad example before the 

 children? Why do parents permit their chil- 

 dren to indulge in this foolish sin that kills 

 both soul and body? When it comes to the 

 care of domestic animals, the man who curses 

 his horse or cow prevents the poor dumb brute 

 from doing its best. The curse really seems to 

 fall on the poor animal. Oh may God help us 

 to hold back this vile hlthy current — this 

 blighting stream of evil that seems so continu- 

 ally to break forth where men and boys are 

 congregated together. It goes right along with 

 sabbath desecration. The two are twin evils. 

 Where you find thb one, the other follows along. 

 May God help us as a nation and as a people to 

 recognize their blasting influence, and not to 

 cease our warfare against them. 



There, I have finished my story, and that, 

 too, without catching up with the "gray horse." 

 Well, Mr. Wean and I found him; and I had 

 not only a pleasant chat with my old neighbor, 

 but with his estimable wife and daughters too; 

 and I assured them that I believed it was not 

 only Mr. Wean but God in his great providence 

 that called them from their home in town into 

 the wide waste of onion and celery fields. 



We are getting a very large number of flat- 

 tering testimonials for the new Weed founda- 

 tion. Here is a sample of one of them: 



The 100 lbs. of new-ijrocess foundation, we receiv- 

 ed about a week ago. It is superflne. We have 

 thoroug'hly tested it, and find it far superior to any 

 thing else we have ever used in the way of founda- 

 tion. The Jennie Atchley Co. 



Beeville, Tex., May 29. 



With the potato business and other busy 

 cares, I have not been off on my wheel very 

 much as yet this season; but as I have recent- 

 ly come into possession of a lU>^-lb. Remington, 

 I have bein waiting anxiously for an oppor- 

 tunity to give it a test. Some of you may say, 

 "Why, Bro. Root, are you setting just the 

 right son of example before our Young Ameri- 

 cas, buying a new wheel every spring ? " Well, 

 I was quite well suited with my Rambler; but 

 Ernest had been for some time protesting that 

 it was too light a wheel for such work as I 

 have generally given wheels. Besides, our boy 

 Huber, who is now just thirteen, had been urg- 

 ing for some time that 1 should get a new one 

 and let him have the Rambler. He weighs 

 just an even hundred pounds. Another thing, 

 Ernest wished to have me test all the new im- 

 provements, so that I might be fully up with 

 the times in advi-sing in regard to wheels, so 

 that I might be able to state, from practical ex- 

 perience, whether the wheels of '96 are really 

 any better than their predecessors. Well, this 

 new Remington has at least two very important 

 improvements. The tubing is made large, to 

 give greater strength wiih the same amount of 

 material. The ball bearings are also made 

 with much larger balls. This, I am satisfied, 

 is an improvement. Another thing, the new 

 machine will climb out of a rut better than any 

 other I have ever had before. Wheelmen as a 

 rule have learned by experience to be careful 

 about following a wagon-track if it sinks much 

 below the general surface of the road. With 

 this wheel I can take risks along this line that 

 I never dared to with any other. This is of 

 special advantage in riding after dark. 



When the new wheel arrived, Huber was a 

 good deal more excited than I was, because he 

 knew that, from that time forward, the Ram- 

 bler was his own property. To show his en- 

 thusiasm as well as skill in wheeling he ran 

 and jumped astride the new wheel before he 

 had even had hold of it long enough to know 

 how to handle it. Now, friends, this is a very 

 simple thing. I suppose almost any boy of a doz- 

 en years will do it. But just consider a minute. 

 Suppose that, fifty years ago, such a machine 

 had been shown to the people, and some young- 

 ster had sprung on to it in that way. The 

 wheel itself can not stand alone at all; but a 

 boy weighing a hundred pounds jumps into the 

 saddle as he would jump on to a colt. Accord- 

 ing to all supposed laws of gravitation and 

 mechanics, both the boy and the wheel would 

 go rolling and tumbling. Nothing of the kind. 

 The new wheel received the shock with scarce- 

 ly a shake or tremor; and he sat on it as secure- 

 ly as if he were on a hitching-post. Of course, 

 the moment his foot struck the pedal the wheel 

 was under motion. It went crooked a little 

 for a few yards; but very soon the wheel and 

 the rider were in accord. If the readers of 

 G1.EANINGS could see Huber go through with 

 some of his antics on his Rambler, riding first 

 entirely on the crank on one side, with one foot 

 out in the air, then doing the same on the other, 

 then crawling all over the machine, even get- 

 ting down under the top bar, the wheel mean- 

 while going as steadily as if it were isome old 

 family horse — if our readers, I say, could see 

 him go through these tricks, I would give — oh! 

 a great big lot of potatoes. 



Well, I started for the celery-farm of Jordan 

 Brothers & Co., at Creston. I had not visited 



